"Interesting. Are you in line because of age or because of skill?" She took the vial with a murmered 'thanks' and uncorked it. In one swift movement she downed the contents of her vial and sighed. "Tastes funny." She pouted before returning to the inheritance talk. "You see in my family, one cannot just be in line to recieve the honor of being full master. Certain requirements in skill as well as other factors come into play. Not all of us have the abilities required to become the next head. My Grandmother is currently our head, and she alone hold the secrets to universal balance. I'm not in line for it but I am currently the most qualified. Can't say that everyone is so happy about it though." She laughed silghtly at the thought of her brother's many pouting sessions over the decision.

"Hmp, well it's certainly not a matter of age nor even direct bloodline. It's more a matter of skill both with our talents and the running of different operations of the home. I have shown the most competence in both so far. The only issue is that the final secrets grant a near immortality and the master of the house can decide when he passes on this secret. But he also will lose it's ability." After a moments pause and with a slight smirk, "I find it funny that you remark on the taste of the solution but yet you do not ask what it is."

"I find the less questions I ask about strange drinks, the less I worry that you are going to poison me. But I guess, since you insist, I'll ask what it is. Sir Igneus... What is it that tastes so funny?" She smiled looking at the vial, now genuinely curious and hoping she hadn't made a foolish mistake.

"Hahaha, well rest assured it's not a poison. Simply a healing draught with the primary ingredient being phoenix tears. The master likes to ensure his hier is around when ever he decides to pass on. But I do thank you for humoring me and asking the question. Also you'll find your strength has returned."

"I am fully aware of the healing properties of pheonix tears, that's still kind of gross though." She smiled and turned her gaze to the sky, her eyes following something that hung above the cloud line. Her expression changed from a grateful smile to a tense glare and she seemed to try and sink into the trunk of the tree. "If he comes down here, I'm going to be furious."

Following her stare but not making the effort to shift his sight, "Would this be your... brother you're talking about? For surely he sees the damaged field and likely smells us both or atleast traces of us. Though, if you would care to depart you certainly can wouldn't want to get you into any kind of trouble with your family."

"No, it's fine. I won't get into any kind of trouble, I'm too skilled for anyone to go against me... Even my own brother has learned not to mess with me when I growl." She smiled in a boastful manner, her eyes never leaving the skyline. It was then that the clouds parted around the large form as it came rocketing towards the ground. He pulled up last minute, making a loud bellow as he touched down heavily. His eyes first scanned the farmers around him, then locked with his sister's. What are you doing with this filth? You should know better than to talk to the lower life forms. The voice was deep and threatening, his eyes never leaving hers. She stood up with a hiss, walking forward so that she was level with his large snout. "I can do what ever the hell I want, and there is nothing you can do about it. For your information, I was in a duel. Now I would like it if you would just leave me be." She growled, clenching her hands into tight fists. He stared at her for a moment before replying. No. That was all he said before he took the back of her shirt in his mouth and lifted her from the ground. She flailed around, trying to hit him in the nose but he had a good grip on her. "Let me down you big lizard. I told you to leave me alone." She whined, looking back at Igneus. "I guess I will see you later." She called apologetically as her brother pushed off from the ground and took flight. She hung there limp with her arms crossed, yelling at her brother the entire flight home.

Well if it was any other than family carting her away Igneus felt he should come to her aid. But given that it was a family issue and he knew she was more than capable of handling herself. Suppose I should return to my own house and inform the master what's going on incase this encounter turns afoul, Igneus thought. After assessing the damage to the field and mentally going over figures for loss of profit and recovery time. Igneus shifted and flew back home.

Skylar landed on the ground with a grunt as Sebastian dropped her from a few feet off the ground. He circled back around and landed gently on the ground before his home and his sister who was already recovering. He shifted back to his humanoid form, though he was sure to keep his wings and tail. Crossing his arms he looked at his sister who was silent in her rage. "I turn my back for five minutes and you find the need to run off with some stranger? What was going through your mind?" He said, concern filling his voice but he was still quite angry with her. Placing her hands on her hips she hissed at her older brother. "I am perfectly fine on my own. The last time I checked, I was quite capable of a simple duel. And he isn't a stranger, he is our neighbor and he has a name. Igneus is a perfect gentleman." She pouted, hating it when her brother interfered with her matters. "I don't care if he is the supreme ruler of the world, he is nothing to me and should be nothing to you. Sky, you are of noble decent.... A dragon for crying out loud. He is nothing but a roasting chicken, and will be treated as such, do you understand me?" "Yeah, I understand you perfectly..." She noted her brother's muscles relax as she said this but she wasn't finished her sentence. "But, I will not take orders from you. If this is truly an issue that you need solved than take it up with Grandmother. Otherwise just leave me to my own decisions." And with that she turned around and stormed into her house, heading straight for her room.

The thermals allowed Igneus to simply glide home which gave him plenty of time to think about what all happened today and how to explain it when asked. But with his mind else where he didn't notice the other until they hit him. They came from below and instantly locked talons and screeched in his face... the master. "WHAT IS WRONG YOU!?!?!" "My lord what are you talking about?" "You know the rules you do not cause a storm where ever and whenever you like! You have ruined that field for weeks!" "I was in a duel! Did you want me to lay down and take it?!" There was a pause that seemed to stretch on forever the wind howling as the two bodies dropped. "Did you win?" "HA! Yes, now let me go before we end up picking our feathers out of the dirt." The master released his hold and both broke away only clearing the ground by some six feet. They came back together and landed, shifting back to human form they came together and started walking towards the house. "So who was it with?" "I'm sorry?" "The duel you feather-head." "OH! A dragoness named Skylar. She's good, if I had had to have gone on anymore I would've had to pop a vial to keep going." "Hmm, she's likely to be their heir then." "That's what she said. Then her older brother came and carried her off like a bitch carries her pups." "Not surprising, the lot of them think they're so great that everyone else should bow to them... they are not immortal."

"Um, excuse me. Are you Igneus?" The voice belonged to a young girl, only about the age of eight but you could already tell she was to grow up a beauty. Her long dark hair matched perfectly with her pale green eyes, her skin a perfect glow of complexion. She tilted her head slightly to the side as she looked at the backs of the two men before her. She spoke again, this time a little louder. "Are you Igneus the great flaming chicken?" She asked, her voice full of innocence... She didn't really understand what it was that she was saying... Just repeating what she had been told.

The first remark went unheard as Igneus and the master were still in conversation but the remark about a flaming chicken rang out loud and clear. Both froze after a momentary pause of the insult sinking in both spun around the master bursting into flame in anger,"WHAT DID YOU CALL HIM?!?!" Igneus a half second behind him realized the nature of the being who uttered such words. "Wait!" Placing his hand on the master's shoulder to restrain him the flames seeming to be nothing more than light on his hand but yet was scorching the grass beneath their feet. "She is just a messenger. And an innocent one at that she knows not what she speaks of. CALM DOWN! You're scaring her." Igneus had never raised his voice to the master before no one had it just wasn't done. The master paused and stared at him in disbelief. The flames slowly died away his anger dwindling. In a huff the master turned away, "We will speak later in my chambers." Taking a few steps he shifted and flew away with a shriek.

Turning to the young girl, "Now that that is over," kneeling down to her level to ease her fears, "What is your message for me young one?"

She had taken a step back from the fury of the master, her eyes never leaving the scorched ground. When Igneus knelt down to her level she met his gaze and pointed to the patch of dead grass. "I can fix that." She said, not looking at where she pointed but holding his gaze. "My sister is the one that you dueled with, are you not? She said that you both messed up the ground and that it needed help. So I came to help fix it." Her eyes shimmered with a type of sadness, as if she were about to cry over the dead grass. In reality, she was by far the best with her ability over earth in the entire family. It was also her only ability so she had time to perfect it despite her age. Just to show him what she meant, the small girl walked over to the patch of dead earth and knelt down to reach it. Placing her finger tips to the ground she breathed life into the patch and watched as it grew green and perfectly healthy once more... Even better than it had been before being burned. "See. I can fix your plants." She beamed brightly, proud of her work.

"My that's quite the talent you have there, and to answer your first question yes indeed myself and your... sister did duel earlier." Pausing for a moments thought, "Yes we certainly did ruin a field, it's quite some distance from here, however. If you like," shifting into his other form, "you can sit on my shoulders while we fly to it." He lowered his head to allow her more ease to climb on if she so chose.

The small girl squealed with delight as she clambered up onto Igneus' back. "Yay! Chicken back ride!" She beamed brighter than the sun as she clung gently to his feathers. "Healing the earth that breathed life into us is something I take great pride in... In return for me healing her, she also protects me from danger. So don't try anything funny, ok?" She added a pout to her words, as if she really were expecting the guy to be a total perv.

"Ha ha ha, well while I'm not fond of being called a chicken little one I certainly have no need to cause you any distress. Hold on." With that Igneus pushed off the ground flapped his great wings and took the two if them high into the air and headed towards the damaged fields. "So I'm guessing that you are not able change like your sister. I bet this is an amazing experience for you to feel the wind on face in this manner."

"No I can't shift like my brother and sister... but I'm not the only one." She closed her eyes and smiled as the wind lifted her hair and whipped it around her head. "This is so cool! Is it like this all the time?" She lowered her body so that she could lift her arms to immitate Igneus' wing movements.

"Yes I would have to say it's like this most if not all the time. Some days the weather is not as nice to me but it generally feels like this." It was fun to introduce someone to flight especially one so young and innocent. Pure joy could be heard in her laughs and squeals. He stayed up far longer than needed but the sun was beginning its descent so he had to go to ground so she could complete her task and get home before dark. He started a wide slow banking spiral towards the ground. Mindful of his passenger he kept quite level through it all until they touched down.

"Fun fun!" The young girl shouted with glee, until her eyes rested upon the ground below them. "You two are so clumsy." She said with disapproval, sliding off of the bird's back the moment they had touched down. The moment her feet touched the ground, it seemed that all the plants still alive gained an aura matching that of the young child's. Stepping out into the center of the disaster, she spread her arms out wide and took a deep breath. When she released it, what came out was the most beautiful note to ever reach one's ears. The earth around her seemed to drink it up, growing stronger and a little more healthy with every passing moment. The one note turned into sevral, and from there a full song that carried on the wind to surrounding plants and people alike. The words were of unknown language to the youngster but it felt natural and so she didn't fight it. The crops beneath her feet began to spring to life, some even spurting up through the earth for they hadn't the strength to before. They were a vibrant green and a healthy appearance to each. By the time the song had ended, the area that had been ruined indeffinately seemed more alive than it ever had been before. Unfortuneatly the same could not be said for the young girl. As powerful as she was, the level of power that took was more than even her sister was capable at her current position in time. She collapsed to the ground, panting and sweating. Despite her exhaustion, she still smiled and said, "The name is Melody, by the way."

"Well Melody," kneeling down beside her. "It's nice to make your aquaintance. I must say you have the most beautiful of gifts, and I thank you for being so willing to share and help my lands. I would like to offer you a ride home as it is late in the day and you seem much drained from your acts."

"Thank you." She panted, looking up at him with disapproving eyes. "You should be more careful, the earth is not very happy with you right now." Her eyes lit up, however, at the mention of a ride home. "We get to fly again?" She was quite excited and it was very noticeable the change in her aura.

"Yes, we get to fly again." grabbing Melody under her arms and lifting her I've his head Igneus placed her on his shoulders then shifted and took off high into the sky. "I will say this, sunsets will never look the same once you've seen them from the air and flown through those purple and orange clouds." With that he swooped and dived amongst the clouds painted by the sunset.

"Wow, so pretty." Melody managed through a yawn. Despite her wishes to stare at the beautiful scene for longer, her eyes were fighting to close. She lay her head down in the feathers, a content smile sliding over her face. "Fun..." Her breathing deepened as she fell into a light slumber, the wind blowing her hair behind her like a banner. Somewhere far below, Skylar stood out front of the property that was her home. The gate towered behind her, the crest reflecting the light of the setting sun. If you looked closely, it seemed to shine better off of the symbol for fire and the fire of the dragon itself. Sky had a smile on her face, her eyes closed as she felt her kin coming ever closer.

Noticing the slow steady breathing of his charge Igneus began his decent to her home. As he broke through the remaining clouds he spotted Skylar waiting by the gate. He slowed his decent to the landing as possible so as not to wake Melody. Touching down with light hops then to a walk he made his way up to Skylar then bowed presenting his passenger. "She is a pure soul this one. Do make an effort to keep her that way if you can."

"I wonder if she will be next in line to me for the head of the house. She has always had the kind of spirit in which she will help anybody out. Even though it's her only ability, I do believe she would have what it takes to keep this family running in the case of both Grandmother and me.... well I leave that one to the imagination in the case that my words might reach her dreams." Sky smiled sheepishly before taking a step forward and claiming her sister. "For a pack of lizards, we ain't too bad now are we?" She smirked, the friendly rivalry shining brightly in her eyes.